1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to seats and, more particularly, a system and method for remote release latch actuation of a seat.
2. Related Art
Vehicle seats often include various functional features. Two common features for vehicle seats are a “fold” feature and a “fold-and-tumble” feature. The “fold” feature allows the seat back to fold down over the seat bottom. As an example, many sport utility vehicles have a third row seat that folds to provide additional cargo room or to improve ingress/egress to the vehicle. Additionally, some seats have a “fold-and-tumble” feature that allows the seat to pivot into a collapsed position in the vehicle. The “fold-and-tumble” feature allows the vehicle to have additional cargo room without the necessity of removing the seat(s).
Seats that have a “fold” or “fold-and-tumble” feature generally have one or more latches to lock the seat in a predetermined position. Currently, it is necessary to manually release the latch(es) before the placing the seat in a “fold” or “fold-and-tumble” position. Many users find it inconvenient to manually release the latch. Moreover, those users with inadequate hand strength find the task of releasing the latch(es) to be difficult or tedious.
Four references have been identified as being generally related to the field of remote release actuating systems: U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,884 issued to Armbruster (the “'884 patent”), U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,619 issued to Arabia et al (the “'619 patent”), U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0026999 issued to Hirota et al (the “'999 application”), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,236 issued to Kleefeldt et al (the “'236 patent”).
The '884 patent discloses a door latch having a drive element movable between a position corresponding to a closed condition of a vehicle door, a position corresponding to an open condition of the door, and an end reference end position offset from the closed and open positions and engaging a fixed abutment. An electric-drive connected to the mechanism can move the element between the closed and open positions and into the end reference position. A hall-effect sensor detects the current position of the element, and a controller is connected to the sensor to operate the drive.
The '619 patent discloses a cable actuator system for the remote operation of a mechanical device. The '619 patent further discloses the use of a single cable actuator assembly to actuate two operating levers, such as the inside latch and lock operating levers of a door latch. The cable actuator system includes a push-pull cable having a core and a sheath where the core actuates one operating lever and a sheath operates another operating lever.
The '999 application discloses a door lock release device that releases a door latch upon predetermined vehicles states. For example, if the vehicle becomes submerged, then the device will release the door latch. The device includes an actuator for releasing a door lock, a first detection means for detecting an operation of a door handle, a first control circuit for controlling an actuation of the actuator based on the detected door handle operation, a second detection means for detecting a vehicle state, and a second control circuit independent from the first control circuit for controlling the actuation of the actuator based on the detected vehicle state.
The '236 patent discloses a motor-vehicle door latch having a mechanical override for emergency situations. The latch has a pivoting pawl which locks a fork around a latch bolt. Normally, a solenoid is used to pivot the pawl to lock or unlock the latch. The '236 patent discloses the use of Bowden cables attached to the pivoting pawl as an emergency override. For example, a handle located on the inside of the vehicle may be connected to the cable such that a user may simply pull on the handle to unlock and open the door if there is an emergency situation.
There remains a need in the art for a simple, reliable, and effective release actuation system for remotely operating a seat latch mechanism such that a user may Fold or Fold-and-Tumble a vehicle seat.